Israel Lebanon latest: Hezbollah rocket targets Tel Aviv for first time as Brits urged to leave Lebanon

Warning sirens sounded in Tel Aviv as a single surface-to-surface missile was intercepted by Israel’s air defence systems after it was detected crossing from Lebanon, the military said.

The warning sirens also sounded in other areas of central Israel, including Netanya City. There were no reports of damage or casualties and the military said there was no change to civil defence instructions for central Israel.

This is the first time Hezbollah has targeted Tel Aviv in central Israel since it began launching attacks on the north of Israel late last year following the 7 October Hamas attack and Benjamin Netanyahu’s retaliatory war on Gaza.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants have fired hundreds of missiles and rockets at Israel in recent days as months of conflict across the border with southern Lebanon has intensified sharply.

The Israeli military has been conducting its heaviest air strikes of the war this week, targeting Hezbollah leaders and hitting hundreds of targets deep inside Lebanon that have killed more than 560 people and wounded more than 1,800.

A top Hezbollah commander was killed during Israel’s airstrikes on Lebanon, the militia group confirmed this morning.

The Iran-backed group said Ibrahim Mohammad Qobeissi, the alleged commander of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile unit, was killed in a strike on a southern suburb of Beirut. He was 62.

The group in a statement said Qobeissi “achieved martyrdom on the path to Jerusalem”.Israel said Qobeissi had orchestrated a 2000 attack when three Israeli soldiers were abducted and killed.

Fears of an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah are growing, with the Israeli military launching fresh strikes on Lebanon after the deadliest day for the country since at least 2006.

A rapid escalation has taken place following a series of exploding device attacks last week, in which pagers and walkie-talkies blew up around Lebanon. Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the attack.

Fifty children are among more than 560 dead so far this week following Israeli strikes on Lebanon.

The Independent takes a look at the recent timeline of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and an ally of Hamas in Gaza.

An Israeli airstrike on Beirut killed a senior commander of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon on Tuesday as cross-border rocket attacks by both sides increased fears of a full-fledged war.

“We seek peace for all and have no intention of conflict with any country … Iran opposes war and emphasizes the need for an immediate cessation of military conflict in Ukraine,” Pezeshkian said.

Russia has cultivated closer ties with Iran since the start of its war with Ukraine and has said it is preparing to sign a wide-ranging cooperation agreement with the Islamic state.

Iran has brokered secret talks between Russia and Yemen’s Houthi rebels to transfer anti-ship missiles to that militant group, three Western and regional sources said, a development that highlights Tehran’s deepening ties to Moscow.

Hezbollah said it launched a surface-to-surface rocket targeting Mossad headquarters near Tel Aviv, saying the Israeli intelligence agency was responsible for assassinating its commanders and blowing up its pagers and walkie-talkies.

The Iran-backed group said it fired a Qadr-110 medium-range ballistic missile to target the headquarters this morning, in its first attack on central Israel since the Gaza war began last October.

Israel said the projectile was intercepted by its air defences.

The Israeli military has been conducting its heaviest airstrikes of the war this week on Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah leaders and hitting hundreds of targets deep inside the country. More than 560 people were killed and 1,800 wounded in strikes on Monday and Tuesday alone.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has compared Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler at the UN General Assembly, urging world leaders to stop what he described as the Israeli prime minister’s aggression in the Middle East.

“Just as Hitler was stopped by the alliance of humanity 70 years ago, Netanyahu and his murder network must also be stopped by the alliance of humanity,” Mr Erdogan said yesterday as he criticised the UN for becoming “a dysfunctional structure”.

“I call out the United Nations Security Council, what are you waiting for to prevent the genocide in Gaza? To put a stop to this cruelty and this barbarianism?” he asked.

Israel’s airstrikes have killed more than 41,400 Palestinians and injured over 95,800 others in Gaza in 11 months. The war began in retaliation against Hamas’s surprise attack on southern Israel on 7 October, which killed nearly 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians.

A journalist in Lebanon sustained injuries after his house was struck by an Israeli projectile while he was broadcasting live.

Fadi Boudia, the editor-in-chief of the Maraya International network, suffered injuries when the blast shattered the windows of his house in eastern Lebanon’s Al-Bekaa region.

The video of the incident is now viral on social media.

Mr Boudia was speaking live on the Iraqi channel iNews about Israel’s bombings in Lebanon, which has killed more than 560 people, Middle East Monitor reported.

Protesters in some US cities demonstrated yesterday against American military support for Israel amid concerns of a wider war in the Middle East, with anti-war activists demanding an arms embargo against the US ally.

Dozens of protesters gathered in Herald Square in New York City on Tuesday evening and carried banners that read “Hands off Lebanon now” and “no US-Israeli war on Lebanon,” according to the ANSWER coalition group, which stands for “Act Now to Stop War and End Racism”.

Protesters chanted “Hands off the Middle East”, “Free Palestine” and “Biden, Harris, Trump and Bibi; none are welcome in our city,” referring to US president Joe Biden, vice president Kamala Harris, former president Donald Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A smaller protest with similar slogans and banners was also seen near the White House in Washington last evening.

“Israel’s attacks in Lebanon and the ongoing siege and genocide in Gaza are made possible by the huge amount of bombs, missiles and warplanes provided by the US government,” the ANSWER coalition group said in a statement.

It said protests were also being organised in other cities including San Francisco, Seattle, San Antonio and Phoenix.

The UK already has a significant diplomatic and military presence in the region, including RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus and British ships RFA Mounts Bay and HMS Duncan, which have remained in the eastern Mediterranean over the summer.

The Royal Air Force has planes and transport helicopters on standby to provide support if necessary.

The deployment to Cyprus comes as the government begins the first stage of its contingency plan, with the military team supported by Border Force and Foreign Office officials.

Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire of thousands of rockets, forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes, with the Israeli strikes on Lebanon being particularly intense, leaving more than 550 people dead and 1,800 injured in less than two days.

The Israeli military said warplanes struck 1,600 targets on Monday, claiming that they were being used by the Iran-backed Hezbollah Many, the military said, were hidden in residential areas and they called on resiudents to evacuate. Israeli warplanes resumed aerial attacks in the early hours of Tuesday.